Linamar Corporation Fined After Employ Injured On Job

GUELPH, ON - Linamar Corporation, operating as Vehcom Manufacturing, has pleaded guilty and received a fine of $100,000 after a worker was burned via an exposed power terminal.

On June 29, 2012, the worker, along with another worker and a supervisor, were at a Linamar manufacturing facility located at 74 Campbell Road, Guelph. The workers were replacing a set of cooling fans in a capacitator panel at the workplace. A portion of the capacitator panel was locked, disabling one energy source to the panel.

The worker was left alone at the panel when the supervisor and other worker left. The worker was removing the second of two cooling fans when it fell, making contact with an exposed power terminal. An electrical fault initiated an arc flash and the flash caused significant burns to the worker's body.

A Ministry of Labour investigation determined that the exposed power terminal had remained live, and that the worker had not been provided with appropriate protective equipment.

Linamar Corporation pleaded guilty to failing as an employer to ensure that measures and procedures were undertaken as prescribed by the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The regulation states that if work is being done on live electrical equipment, the employer shall ensure that a worker uses rubber gloves, mats, shields and other protective equipment and procedures adequate to ensure protection from electrical shock and burns while performing the work.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.